A Pearl, not a Diamond
by barefoot and buckwild
Summary: This is their life and while it may not be perfect. In fact, it's far from perfect. But they don't care about the perfect life; all they really need is each other.


A Pearl, Not a Diamond

Their story isn't a fairytale. In the world they lived in, no one's life was. Districts were full of hunger and despair. No one knew if they were going to live to see the next day.

More importantly, the Games weighed on everyone's shoulders. Kids were pulled from their homes and were forced to fight to the death. All for the amusement of President Snow and the Capitol.

This was their life, Katniss and Peeta. They lived day to day wondering if their names were ever going to be called. Katniss was also worried about her sister being reaped, even if she did everything she possible could have to keep Primrose safe from the Games.

But, in the world of Panem, that's not always easy. Katniss volunteered at the reaping to keep Prim out of the games; but that didn't mean that she would have been completely safe. She still had to deal with the fact that her sister had to fight and kill people to stay alive; while she was forced to watch it on television.

Prim had to grow up fast. Way too fast. She barely had a childhood. She had seen too much by the time she was thirteen to even be considered a child anymore. Either way, Katniss did everything in her power and Prim was still the one to get hurt.

_I could have done more, couldn't I? _Katniss thought, wrapping her arms around her knees. _I could have saved her…if only…_

If what? There was nothing she could have done. Everything had happened so quickly. By the time she realized who it was and what was going on, the parachute went off, killing everyone that was in range.

Including Prim.

Ever since that day, Katniss has blamed herself for the death. She always told herself that there was _something _that she could have done to stop it.

And then there was Gale. She had also blamed him, because there was that possibility that it _could_ have been his bomb. Katniss didn't know what to think after that and stopped talking to him. Now he was off in District 2, far away from 12.

The two of them, Katniss and Peeta, had gotten through two Hunger Games and a rebellion. Of course, it wasn't without hurting and losing together. They had both lost those they cared about and now lived with physical and emotional scars.

Katniss and the emotional scars from seeing Rue, Prim and others die. And being in the arena twice changes a person. The physical scars on her left arm from where Johanna had cut the tracking device from her arm and her different colors of skin from the burns at the end of the rebellion.

Peeta had more scars than she did. The obvious ones like his missing leg or his missing family. The scars that he earned from the arena and the rebellion. His emotional scars outweighed everything else. He was kidnapped, tortured and hijacked by the Capitol. He still wasn't completely himself anymore because of that.

Overall he was, but he still had episodes where he'd flip out around Katniss, like he did soon after he was rescued from the Capitol and deposited in District 13. It wasn't that serious like before, but it still happened and it took both Katniss and Greasy Sae to calm him down again.

They both had more nightmares over everything they'd been through, than they could count together on their four hands.

This was their life, because of the games and the rebellion. In very few ways, it was a good thing. In millions of ways it was horrible.

Because, if not for the games, would they have ever gotten together? They hardly knew each other to begin with and probably never would if it wasn't for the games.

Maybe that's why Katniss is conflicted about the games, because she knows that she can't live without Peeta and doesn't want to see a life without him. But, if there were no games, she would have had to, wouldn't she?

"I guess I'll never know,"

"What will you never know?" a voice asked and Katniss realized that she must have spoken the words aloud.

Katniss lifted her head and turned to look at the source of the voice. Peeta was walking towards her from the foot of the stairs.

Katniss looked up at him. "If we would have known each—been this close," she said, as he sat down next to her. "Without the games…The only reason we became this close was because we were forced into the games, twice—I mean would we be where we are now?"

Peeta threw his arm around her shoulder. "I'd like to think we would be or that there might have been a possibility, even if it was small."

"And then I—"she stopped herself. _Maybe I'm just thinking too into this._ "Nothing,"

"Is there something else on your mind?" Peeta asked, titling his head.

Katniss shook her head in reply. "No, just forget about it," she told him. "It's nothing, I'm just looking too far into it. I should just live in the present; not live in the past and worry about the what-ifs…It's not going to do any good."

Peeta started rubbing soothing circles on her back. "No matter what happens to us, we'll have each other, now and forever."

Katniss leaned back against him, resting her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes as Peeta wrapped his arms around her. "We'll get past this, slowly, but surely. Even if we don't get fully over it."

"Because, it'll never really leave us," Katniss murmured. "The nightmares and the memories will always be a part of us. Look at Haymitch, he's living proof," she added, opening her eyes again.

Katniss knew the real reason Haymitch had turned to alcohol was because of what had happened to him in his games. The nightmares that still haunted him, even to this day. He started picking up the bottle because he couldn't handle it. Or he didn't want to handle.

"But, if I have anything to do with it," Peeta said. "You're not going to turn towards the bottle—unless you wan—"

Katniss shook her head. "No, I'm not going to drown my sorrow in liquor; I'm not going to hide away from the nightmares or memories, because that's not going to do me any good. Besides, that crap tasted disgusting going down and even worse coming back up."

There was a playful smirk on Peeta's face. "So, you've learned…from past experiences, then?"

Katniss nodded. "And I'm not going to do it again."

"And I'll be here to stop you if you ever do," Peeta told her. "For as long as needed."

Katniss smiled as she looked down at her left hand; because she knew that Peeta would always be there for her. Even without the ring, he'd still be there for her, because he loves her, and she loves him. It just took her a while to realize that. It took a while for her to realize that she couldn't live without him.

"Why'd you ask?" Katniss asked him, suddenly. She looked away from her ring to look him in his eyes.

"Why'd you say yes," Peeta returned. He shrugged. "Is there really a true answer to those questions?"

Katniss thought about it. Was there? They both knew how they felt about the other. How they kept each other going. They knew things about one another that others didn't. Katniss knew what he had been through, just like he knew what she had been through…Maybe they couldn't live without the other.

And that's why he had asked her to marry him and why she had said yes. There just wouldn't be any other way. They belonged together. She was his and he was her's. There could be no other way.

"I couldn't see us not together," Katniss replied. "Maybe it's fate that brought us together." And that's all the answers they needed.

Katniss stared at the ring on her hand and it reminded her of the time when she thought she'd lost the pearl Peeta had given her.

* * *

She looked all over the house and anywhere else she could think of; and still couldn't find it.

_Where in the world could it have gone? _she thought, frantically. _I have to find it. _

Eventually, she just gave up looking for it. She figured it was probably best to just come out and tell Peeta what had happened to it. Later that day, she decided to tell him. But before she could even speak to tell him, he'd completely surprised her.

Peeta knelt now on one knee. "Katniss Everdeen, will you marry me?"

Katniss hadn't really believed him at first. She stared at him for a few moments before speaking. "A-are you serious?"

Peeta answered her question by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a ring box. He held it out to her and opened it. "Yes, I am."

That's when Katniss had found the pearl. There it sat, in the middle of the ring, surrounded by little tiny silver stones. It was a pearl ring instead of a diamond. And that's what made it theirs and theirs alone. The pearl was something that was special to them and no one else could begin to understand that.

She smiled her first real smile in quite a while since the end of the rebellion.

"Yes," she told him.

* * *

Maybe that's another reason she had said yes, because they just get one another and know what to expect from each other. They just fit together. They're each other's missing puzzle pieces. He is hers and she is his. It's been that way all this time and anything else in unthinkable.

This is their life and while it may not be perfect. In fact, it's far from perfect. But they don't care about the perfect life; all they really need is each other. They're perfectly happy with what they have.

* * *

AN: So it's another Katniss/Peeta fic :) Have I mentioned how much I love these two :P This just came to me while I was thinking of the Pearl that Peeta gave her and I just realized that a pearl is just _them _and so this piece was born.

Warning: There are spoilers, if you haven't read Mockingjay, so be warned.

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Suzanne Collins, not me.


End file.
